How old is this Craftsman drill press?

I have the bench model, and it's still very solid and tight- just doesn't get used as much since I got the Bridgeport- you get spoiled after drilling on the mill

 

If you're talking about a Craftsman drill press like the one in the original post, go to http://vintagemachinery.org/mfgIndex/detail.aspx?id=222&tab=3 and look through their index of reprints. There should be a Craftsman part number on it somewhere that will help your search. Also, they made that same drill press for probably 20 years so you don't necessarily need a 1956 manual. I have a similar drill press but mine is late 1940s or early 1950s, I found the manual there.

 

Thank you for the instant help. I will try there next. HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

HI, I am in need of help for my 50's-60's drill press. Thanks to this forum I was able to get the press freed and able to work, but the motor needs a good cleaning. It works but sounds lousy . Was partialy under salt water for a few hours. I can't find any motor repair shop in the New York area that will even consider looking at it. Everyone says " Get a New One". Any ideas???? All help much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Hi, this is a cry for HELP again. Thanks to your forum I was able to get the manual and free up the drill . MY problem is the motor. It works,just sounds lousy. It had been partially under salt water for a few hours and I would like to have it cleaned and checked out. Trouble is there isn't any repair shop that will do the work in the New York area. I keep getting told to replace it with a new one. Any ideas that will help is much appreciated. This is just the first vintage craftsman I have to repair, the other is a 6x48 belt sander I haven't even looked at yet.

 

How about cleaning it? Can you take it apart a bit and see what it looks like inside? If just dirty/gritty and not rusty, I'd give the individual components a quick bath in clean water, then instantly pour acetone (to disperse the water) on them. Then blow them totally dry with compressed air. Then lube anything except paper products/wrappings with WD-40 to prevent rusting. Regrease the bearings with fresh grease, wipe off any excess lube/WD-40, and reassemble.

If it still sounds bad, you'll probably need a shop to rebuild or you'll need a replacement.

 

Thanks for the information. I thought the motor was not running, when I hit the reset switch it ran. MY mistake was I thought it was running rough. WRONG, it was the table I had it sitting on, was shaking from the vibrations. I got up the nerve to run the motor for 20 minutes, didn't overheat, no sputters or stops. Put it back on the press today, forgot to tighten the pully and had a scare that something else was wrong. Just forgetfull me, tightened the pully and SHE ran Beautifully.. Now my new craftsman band saw is another matter. Not a fan of this new stuff.